Dead man walking: Family, military members describe McDowells personality change after deployment [Video]

The defense has now called 31 total witnesses for testimony as day five of Patrick McDowell’s penalty phase came to a close Monday.

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McDowell’s fellow military members spoke about the trauma he endured after serving overseas, including in Iraq. They described a far different person from the one who sat before them who admitted to shooting and killing a Nassau County deputy in 2021.

“I knew if he was capable of doing that, that there was darkness in him and he needed help,” Susan Cagle, McDowell’s aunt, told jurors. She described him as a happy child who was close with family and she said there was a shift after he returned from his second deployment.

McDowell served with the Marines as a radio operator and then went back a second time with a private military contractor. Cagle recalled one instance McDowell went running all day and stopped at her Jacksonville Beach …